in other news, the Vatican has acknowledged Pope Francis failure to attend the opera on june 24th is in fact a miracle. this paves the way for the pontiff to be the first living person to be declared a saint. hooray!!

marius2:I'm an evil baby-eating atheist, but even I kinda like this guy.

I feel about him the same way I feel about Obama. I might not like everything he does (or doesn't do), but I'm much happier with him than the alternatives. There is still a really long list of things about the catholic church that I really don't like (and promoting the belief in "god" is way way down that list.)

iheartscotch:Magorn: I love the fact that he was right next door, working late into the night while the concert was happening. The Church really did accidentially elect High Sparrow as pope, didn't they?

Pretty much. Where Benedict XVI was ultra-conservative, ultra-oldshool with his prada shoes, Francis would prefer to live in a one room shack and give the money he didn't need to the poor.

/ Francis is liberal, but in the same way that Reagan would be considered liberal when compaired to RON PAUL

It is a nice change of pace from popes preaching about humility and giving to the poor while they stand on a solid gold balcony dressed in jewels and silk.

wrs1864:marius2: I'm an evil baby-eating atheist, but even I kinda like this guy.

I feel about him the same way I feel about Obama. I might not like everything he does (or doesn't do), but I'm much happier with him than the alternatives. There is still a really long list of things about the catholic church that I really don't like (and promoting the belief in "god" is way way down that list.)

Strange, I think Obama is the exact opposite of Francis:

When Francis came into office, no one knew what was going to happen. But since day one he's been pushing the limits. Reemphasizing rejection of worldly goods. Refusing to be put into the role of a prince. Rejecting tradition and living in simple quarters. He's single handedly redefined what it means to be a modern Pope. And I say this as a neutral atheist who is not fond of the Catholic Church at all. The man has earned my respect through his actions.

With Obama on the other hand, I had the highest hopes when he was elected. Finally someone who would take a stand for principles even if it cost him. But he's done nothing of note. We still have men who have never been tried languishing in Guantanamo, getting a tube stuffed down their nose every day. The government is even more opaque than it was under the great W. The 1984 surveillance society is all but taken for granted. Obama is so afraid of looking bad on TV that he's almost completely ineffectual.

Tim$ter:I'm not Catholic, I'm not really even very religious, but I am really digging this new pope. Keep on, your Pope-ness. Keep on.

Those of us who have had prior experience with Jesuits as teachers or parish priests had high hopes something like this would be the case, but speaking only for myself, I'm pleasantly suprsied at how far it's gone so far. (now here's hoping the farker who predicted "if a Jesuit becomes pope predophile priests won't be covered up any more but hung from lampposts in Vatican City" turns out to be right too)

Dinobot:Dont they have two popes right now? Just send Ratzinger instead.

That actually probably would have worked better, as the concert was arranged while Ratzinger was pope, and we all know how he liked displays.

Francis, on the other hand, realized that it was the last night a bunch of world leaders would be available, and took the opportunity to actually DO something.

Yeah, I like this pope too. UU is about as close as I'll ever get to being Christian again, but the man makes me consider Catholicism if only because it certainly puts beliefs into a practice a little better than UUs do.

iheartscotch:Magorn: I love the fact that he was right next door, working late into the night while the concert was happening. The Church really did accidentially elect High Sparrow as pope, didn't they?

Pretty much. Where Benedict XVI was ultra-conservative, ultra-oldshool with his prada shoes, Francis would prefer to live in a one room shack and give the money he didn't need to the poor.

/ Francis is liberal, but in the same way that Reagan would be considered liberal when compaired to RON PAUL

You sort of understand, but not very well. Francis is not a liberal in any way, shape, or form. If anything, he is probably more fundamentally conservative than Benedict. People mistake asceticism and morality-driven charity for "liberalism" because the most obvious forms of "conservativism" in the present day are ostentatious and selfish. Jesuits are quite ascetic, and they take their teaching and charitable missions very seriously. However, they are also among the most hard-core of the hardest-core when it comes to doctrinal conservativism and preservation of a strictly vertical hierarchy for the Roman Catholic Church.

They will be sincere when they pray for you, but they will excommunicate you, nonetheless.

Magorn:Tim$ter: I'm not Catholic, I'm not really even very religious, but I am really digging this new pope. Keep on, your Pope-ness. Keep on.

Those of us who have had prior experience with Jesuits as teachers or parish priests had high hopes something like this would be the case, but speaking only for myself, I'm pleasantly suprsied at how far it's gone so far. (now here's hoping the farker who predicted "if a Jesuit becomes pope predophile priests won't be covered up any more but hung hanged from lampposts in Vatican City" turns out to be right too)

It'l all be fun and games until some Jesuit pontiff makes an ex cathedra proclamation that the Cafeteria Catholics disagree with. Be careful what you wish for.

I'll give this guy kudos for consistently doing the right thing as of the time of this post.

However, it didn't take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see that the civilized world was ready to collectively run the Catholic Church out of town with torches and pitchforks and something BIG had to change.

KidKorporate:I'll give this guy kudos for consistently doing the right thing as of the time of this post.

However, it didn't take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see that the civilized world was ready to collectively run the Catholic Church out of town with torches and pitchforks and something BIG had to change.

The Catholic Church has already given up on the civilized world. They are focusing their efforts on Africa and southeast Asia.

KidKorporate:I'll give this guy kudos for consistently doing the right thing as of the time of this post.

However, it didn't take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see that the civilized world was ready to collectively run the Catholic Church out of town with torches and pitchforks and something BIG had to change.

He is stepping on a lot of shoes doing the right thing. Hope he can get work done.

ceebeecates4:Magorn: Tim$ter: I'm not Catholic, I'm not really even very religious, but I am really digging this new pope. Keep on, your Pope-ness. Keep on.

Those of us who have had prior experience with Jesuits as teachers or parish priests had high hopes something like this would be the case, but speaking only for myself, I'm pleasantly suprsied at how far it's gone so far. (now here's hoping the farker who predicted "if a Jesuit becomes pope predophile priests won't be covered up any more but hung hanged from lampposts in Vatican City" turns out to be right too)

It'l all be fun and games until some Jesuit pontiff makes an ex cathedra proclamation that the Cafeteria Catholics disagree with. Be careful what you wish for.

ceebeecates4:KidKorporate: I'll give this guy kudos for consistently doing the right thing as of the time of this post.

However, it didn't take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see that the civilized world was ready to collectively run the Catholic Church out of town with torches and pitchforks and something BIG had to change.

The Catholic Church has already given up on the civilized world. They are focusing their efforts on Africa and southeast Asia.

Peki:ceebeecates4: KidKorporate: I'll give this guy kudos for consistently doing the right thing as of the time of this post.

However, it didn't take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see that the civilized world was ready to collectively run the Catholic Church out of town with torches and pitchforks and something BIG had to change.

The Catholic Church has already given up on the civilized world. They are focusing their efforts on Africa and southeast Asia.

You forgot Latin America (the fricking pope is Argentinian!).

Why would they focus on Latin America? That would be like putting another NHL team in Canada.